NFL
Butler pact detailed
The Buffalo Bills have locked up starting right guard Brad Butler for the next five seasons, through 2012.
Terms of the new contract extension Butler signed Wednesday became available Friday. Butler’s old deal ran through 2009. The new deal extends his contract for three additional years and includes $8.8 million in new money, according to league sources. That’s an average of $2.9 million on the three-year extension.
Counting the full five years he’s under contract, he will average just about $2 million a year.
While Butler receives financial security and is rewarded after just one season as a starter, the contract does not appear to have much financial impact on the Bills’ ability to reach contract extensions with receiver Lee Evans or left tackle Jason Peters. Evans is entering the final year of his deal. Peters has three years remaining and wants a new contract. The fact Butler got an extension could make Peters a little more determined to get his own deal.
Butler, 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, started all 16 games last season. He was a fifth-round draft pick out of the University of Virginia in 2006.
Under the terms of his original deal, Butler was due to make $445,000 this year and $530,000 next year. Under the new deal, his base salaries will be $945,000 this season, $1 million in 2009 and $1.55 million for 2010 through 2012. The rest of the money will come through bonus payments.
